44th Poet Laureate Billy Collins in Jackson

Teton County Library will begin offering free tickets Monday, May 14, for "Page to the Podium: Billy Collins," an evening with the 44th U.S.Poet Laureate. The Teton County Library and Foundation will present a free public reading by Collins at 7 p.m. on Monday, June 4. He will also offer commentary about his poems and answer questions. A Guggenheim winner, Collins has achieved critical acclaim and popular appeal. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, Paris Review and The American Scholar. His last three collections of poems have broken sales records. Aptly described as "unpretentious, funny, and good," Collins was appointed U.S. Poet Laureate from 2001 to 2003.

Collins has published eight collections of poetry, including Sailing Alone Around the Room, The Apple That Astonished Paris and Nine Horses. Collins considers humor "a door into the serious." His poems often open on a clear, hospitable note but then take unexpected turns. His work has won praise from fellow authors, including Wyoming author Annie Proulx, who writes: "I have never before felt possessive about a poet, but I am fiercely glad that Billy Collins is ours."

FMI: Pauline Towers-Dykeman at 733-2164 ext. 217.